MAGNIFICAT

Those of you who sing, share with me the joy of reading or hearing spoken words that automatically set you off on a singing tangent.  Today as I read Luke 1, I had the experience of hearing Sherin Brown sing the opening line of Rene Clausen’s “Magnificat.”

It was the first year I had the joy and great privilege of singing with University of Puget Sound’s Adelphian Concert Choir under the direction of Paul Schultz.  After watching my older sister from the audience and aspiring to be the next Mannon girl, at last it was my turn to become a part of this legendary, elite ensemble.

At eighteen years old, my understanding of composition and taste in music was beginning to mature.  I was taking theory and music history classes, and becoming exposed to sounds I’d never heard before.  I was collaborating with the most talented musicians in the country.  And then this song:  SSAATTBB—lush, crazy, I-never-knew-that-chord-existed, pushing-the-boundaries beauty.  It hit the sweet spot of musical fulfillment for me, not only as a listener, but as a participant.  That was me—one of the “A’s” in that SSAATTBB—helping to create that other-worldly sound.

Because of my past experience, no setting of Magnificat will ever equal Clausen’s, and today I was happy to find this recording so I could relive the moment.  As I listened, I was reminded of the longing I often felt during my college years while singing sacred music.  I remembered being moved to tears as I expressed words written by men and women who loved God.  But because I didn’t believe in God, I sang their words as an actress putting on the cloak of a believer, not as one participating in the spiritual experience myself.  I cried because I was a good actress, but also because I longed for an authentic encounter with God.

Eight years after graduating from UPS, pregnant with my second child, I experienced that authentic encounter with God, and ever since, have had the joy of singing to the object of my longing, not only about Him.  Today, as I listened to my beloved Magnificat, I was moved to tears again, as the joy of my college music experience merged with the joy of my faith, in a gloriously complete outpouring to my God.